Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Why Should You Use Remanufactured Print Cartridges

Over 330 million ink and toner cartridges are
discarded into North American landfills.
According to Statistics Canada, over 350 million ink and toner cartridges are discarded into North American landfills. That number is rising by 12% annually. By recycling your laser and ink jet printer cartridges, you will help divert the amount of plastic that end up into landfills. These days, most cartridges can be recycled up to six times and are guaranteed by most manufacturers to work as if they were brand new.

To recycle your used print cartridge, read the instructions in the box of your new laser or ink jet cartridge to find out how to recycle it. Some manufacturers will provide instructions, packaging materials and free postage if you wish to recycle your old cartridge. These cartridges are reconditioned, refilled, and used again, using all new toner and components to our ISO 9001/2008 and ISO 14001 standards.

By taking the steps necessary to reduce the need for new materials, you become more proactive in environmental conservation. You can contact IMSinkspot to learn more about your options. IMSinkspot is Canada’s premiere eco-friendly print supplies manufacturer. IMSinkspot does their part to help reduce landfill waste and affect positive environmental change. Contact IMSinkspot today, and they can provide you more information about remanufacturing your old laser printer cartridge.

Monday, January 31, 2011

How To Protect Your Printer Cartridges from Electrostatic Discharge in the Winter Months

Take special care when handling print
cartridges during the winter months.
In the winter months, you must take special care when handling and installing printer cartridges because of the dry winter air. Electrostatic discharge or ESD is harmful to many electronic components, including standard office equipment like computers and printers. ESD happens when a person has accumulated a potential electrical difference - through friction or even dry winter air - and completes a circuit, usually by touching a conductive surface such as metal. This produces an electrical discharge that may be too much for an integrated circuit to handle and thus burns and ruins it, as the flow of electrical current follows the path of least resistance.
Printer cartridges are vulnerable to ESD and thus measures have been created to prevent blowing out cartridges when someone needs to change them. Some measures include adding protection circuitry into the components, anti-static packaging, shielding covers over conductive surfaces, and anti-static devices such as grounding wires or grounding rugs. An external solution exists, so that companies do not have to redesign their products or buy expensive anti-static devices that cease to work when removed.
For printer cartridges, ground rings and spark gaps can be implemented to the exterior of the product. Ground rings work by forcing a new path of least resistance, so ESDs pass by the vulnerable circuits unscathed and dissipate into the printer safely. Spark gaps work by having contact points on the printer cartridge that all connect to several empty spaces, so ESDs readily follow these points to the gaps, where the potential electrical difference is lost when the ESD has to jump these gaps. Ground rings and spark gaps even reduce the chance of ESD during the manufacturing process.
This article about how to protect your printer cartridges from electrostatic discharge was brought to you by IMSinkspot.com